This invention relates to a process, to an apparatus and to the use of this apparatus for enriching liquids with oxygen by means of a catalyst and a liquid which gives off oxygen under the effect of that catalyst.
The enrichment of liquids with oxygen by means of a catalyst and a liquid which gives off oxygen under the effect of that catalyst is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,524. This U.S. patent describes an apparatus in which a catalyst fixed to a vertically displaceable rod may be brought into contact with the oxygen-yielding liquid by displacement of said rod in a storage vessel containing the oxygen-yielding liquid. In general, the oxygen-yielding liquid is hydrogen peroxide. Oxygen is given off under the effect of the catalyst, water being formed at the same time. As a result, the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution in the storage vessel decreases continuously. The lower the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the storage vessel, the smaller the quantity of oxygen given off.
The apparatus according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,524 is attended by the disadvantage that it is only possible with considerable difficulty, if at all, to tell at what time the amount of oxygen being given off is no longer sufficient to supply the liquid to be enriched with oxygen. In addition, complications are involved in replacing the hydrogen peroxide solution.